Diagnosis of autism is based on observation of communication, behavior and development.
Signs appear during the first three years, including oddly uncoordinated movements of babies.
Autistic children have brain differences and tend to have bigger heads.
A third suffer gastrointestinal problems.
Their blood has abnormally high levels of four proteins.
The only widely accepted treatment is applied behavioral analysis, involving repetitive teaching that breaks learning into incremental tasks with positive reinforcement.
Early intervention has best results.
Only half of children respond well.
Repeated treatments with the digestive hormone secretin and antibiotic vancomycin have had positive results.
Drugs sometimes control aggressive and self-destructive behavior.
Research has involved MRIs, establishment of gene and tissue banks, and breeding of Guinea pigs with autistic abnormalities.
Also studied are videos of autistic babies and bowel problem connections.
The University of Washington leads in autism research.
Autism is caused by interference in brain development from interactions between genes on Chromosomes 7, 13, and 15 and environmental factors, either during pregnancy or after birth.
The broad spectrum of symptoms suggests multiple causes.
Sex hormone influence explains the preponderance of boys.
Suggested triggers include milk or wheat allergies, viruses, environmental toxins, maternal drugs, and peptides created by digestive problems.
Support services are expensive and insufficient.
New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania have superior programs.
Autism affects 1 in 500-1000 and is on the rise.
Eighty percent are boys.
Odds are 1 in 20 that a family with one autistic child will have another.
Brick, NJ has an autism cluster.
